Twenty Kisses
by speechbubble
Summary: A kiss on the cheek, on the hand, on the lips, kissed by your mother, your friend, your lover. A story - maybe two - told in twenty drabbles - twenty kisses. SLASH and het, various pairings with AlexBen as the main one.


**A/N: Please read! **I've written this for International Kissing Day (which just so happens to coincide with my birthday, hint, hint xD), and I hope that you are going to like it. I'll let you figure out why I did exactly 20 kisses ;)

There are several ways to read this – e.g. top-down (starting with Alex's part from 1 to 10 and then reading Ben's from 10 to 1), or bottom-up (starting with Ben 1 and ending with Alex 1), or reading from the top to the middle and then starting from the bottom, or – my personal favourite – reading the corresponding drabbles for both of them alternately (i.e. Alex 1, Ben 1, Alex 2, Ben 2 etc.)

**Disclaimer: **I don't claim anything but the idea.

**Warning: **The usual, I guess: slash, language.

**Twenty Kisses**

**I. **Helen Rider's eyes glaze over with tears as she looks at her baby son who has finally cried himself to sleep. She wishes she could stay with him until his ears get better and they can go to France together to start a new life. Her husband lays a hand on her shoulder to signal that they have to leave. She leans down carefully and kisses her child on the forehead with a gentleness only a mother can possess. She does not know that she is kissing him goodbye forever and that he will grow up without ever remembering her.

**II. **Ian's hands weigh heavily on Alex's shoulders as his uncle holds him in place and fixes him in a firm gaze. Alex is six and curious about what happened to his parents, and while Ian loves his nephew and does not want to hurt him, he is not one for sugar-coating things either. Alex forces a quivering, uncertain smile onto his lips and nods his head _thankyou_. He can be eerily mature, Ian muses with pride and worry, and kisses the top of the boy's head. Later, Alex only vaguely recalls the gesture, but he does so with a smile.

**III. **Alex has always been reckless. Climbing trees, jumping over fences and picking fights with the bullies at school. It is probably needless to say that he obtained a fair share of scratches, cuts and broken bones in the process. Luckily, back then, just like now, whenever he is hurt, Jack is there to patch him up and to scold him for being so careless. She makes him sit on the kitchen table while she cleans the wound, places a band aid on a scraped knee and gently presses her lips to it, kissing away the pain and the haunting memories.

**IV. **Yassen Gregorovich's skin is a deathly hue of white. A contrast that gradually grows with the vibrant red colour of the blood that is soaking through his shirt and spreading around him, deep and dark. Life is leaving. Alex can only stare at the assassin who has just taken a lethal bullet for him, the revelation about his father still pulsing through his mind. Yassen reaches up and grasps his chin in a vice-like grip. He forces their lips together with a strength no dying man should possess. Alex's face is blank and smeared with blood when his backup arrives.

**V. **Sabina Pleasure is great girl, and Alex does feel bad for her, but he also knows that this is better for both of them. He does not even have to say anything, standing in front of her and avoiding her eyes. She just looks at him with an overwhelming sadness in her whole stance, then steps closer and grasps his arms, gently, determinedly, as if to steady herself in her resolve. She kisses his cheek with silent tears streaming down hers, knowing the one boy she has ever truly fallen in love with has long since slipped through her fingers.

**VI. **It is widely known that Alex tends to get hurt one way or another and then does not let anyone treat his injuries. Snake once threatens to 'kiss better' a bullet graze if Alex continues to refuse to 'keep bloody still'. The remark earns him an unexpected smack on the back of his head from Ben – who is whistling innocently on the other side of the room by the time Snake has turned around with a glare – while Alex, snatching the bandages from the medic's hands and dressing up his injured leg by himself, blows him a raspberry.

**VII. **Alex grumbles and makes a slightly clumsy grab for one of the half-empty bottles of gin, vodka, whisky, - whatever they had managed to snatch thanks to his _super awesome_ pick pocketing skills and Jerry's cooperation. He takes a big gulp that burns funnily in his throat and sets the bottle down before unsteadily crawling over to a manically crackling Tom who had not even listened to what James had dared Alex to do. Blushing, Alex plants an awkward wet kiss on his best friend's lips who just keeps giggling madly while their friends cat whistle and whoop around them.

**VIII. **Jack sobs and latches on to Alex, holding him close and closer still, not letting go, never letting go again. She peppers kisses over his temples, his forehead, his soot-covered hair, whispering _thank you, thank you, God, thanks Ben, thank you _over and over while glancing up at the man, her eyes glazed with tears of relief. Ben's clothes and his skin are black with ashes from head to toe, and underneath the remnants of his poker-face he looks just as desperate, just as relieved and just as grateful as Jack is feeling at having Alex back save and sound.

**IX. **A picture of thoughtful dark eyes flashes through Alex's mind as he kisses the mama of the brothel he has been sent to investigate. Her hands pull at his shirt, ripping off a button or two, sharp manicured nails leaving reddened skin in their wake. He returns the favour of undressing her, expertly caressing her breasts and trailing kisses like honey down her collarbones, glutinous and traitorously sweet. Their naked bodies intermingle with uneven tempers – one heated and looking for selfish satisfaction, one professional and cold. Alex struggles with his self-control for a moment, wishing she was someone else.

**X.** They are glances and smirks, witty remarks hiding nothing because they know each other's syntax and semantics – and the rest is natural sciences: physics, chemistry, biology. Alex always marvels at how naturally things between them happen and progress, especially since it has never worked like this with anyone else. He has forgotten what he would do without Ben and sometimes that scares him and sometimes that makes him happier than anything else in the world. Lips and bodies crash in celebration, moans and gasps echo, vision flickers and everything vanishes but their sense of touch, drowned in passionate kisses.

**oOoOo**

**X. **Alex. There are no words for Alex. It is not that he does not deserve them – it is rather that a hundred are not even close to enough to describe him. Sometimes a single sincere smile from Alex feels like a thousand butterfly kisses ghosting over Ben's skin and tickling his soul, sometimes a touch lingers white hot for hours and days and weeks and if Ben closes his eyes and concentrates, his lips still tingle from the kisses they have shared – slow and sensual, rough and desperate, light and teasing, seductive and forceful, everything Alex. Without words.

**IX. **_It is not cheating when it is for a mission_, Ben repeats in his head like a mantra. They had agreed that_ it is not cheating when it is for a mission_. Kissing, touching, _f-ing_ some woman, he feels awful anyway. Her kisses are too gentle, her body too soft, her hair too long, her lips too red, her hands too cold – she is everything not Alex, and everything wrong. _It is not cheating when it is for a mission. _That agreement will not stop Ben from murmuring 'sorry' against Alex's warm lips and scarred skin until he forgets.

**VIII. **When Jack finally lets go of Alex, she stumbles over to Ben, firmly gripping his face and kissing his cheeks left and right. Only now it occurs to her to say sorry – sorry for mistrusting him, sorry for thinking he was no good, sorry for telling him to stay away from Alex. "You really love him," she breathes, awe and joy glittering in her eyes as the realisation hits her. Ben smiles crookedly down at her. "That's what I told you. I don't lie when I can help it." Jack nods solemnly and pushes him towards Alex.

**VII. **Eagle is not only a talented mechanic and a passionate prankster, he is also a huge flirt. Let him into a bar and give him two hours, he will have charmed at least five girls into being willing to accompany him home. And he does not necessarily restrict his choice to girls either, especially if he has drunk enough. Ben is not too surprised when his friend lands a wet kiss on him one alcoholic night – and then promptly falls asleep straddling his lap. Eagle nuzzles the crook of his neck and incoherently mumbles "Quinn" in his sleep.

**VI.** Ruth looks him up and down sceptically. He is dressed in military fatigues and hopes to wear a flaming sword on his beret soon, looking so, so much like is father. Ben knows that his decision to pursue a military career hurts her – she has lost a husband and a son to the sick game of war and she does not want her grandson to follow in their steps. Suddenly, her expression goes blank, and then she pinches his cheeks almost brutally, only to kiss away the pain, and lets him go to do what he feels is right.

**V. **Ben falls in love with Jennifer Radford when he is seventeen. She is pretty – lean, athletic, long blonde hair, bright eyes – and probably among the most popular girls in his year. When she agrees to go out with him, Ben considers himself the luckiest guy on earth. After nearly a year with her, he actually thinks that maybe, while she is only his first love, first time – first (almost) everything – she will be the last one as well. So when he kisses her, he kisses the girl he thinks he will marry. But then, she cheats.

**IV. **Liz Daniels is pale and Ben is only fourteen. He has tucked in Emma and Cole, gently wiped away the tears from their cheeks and given them chocolate even though they have already brushed their teeth. Calmly, he sits at his mother's bedside with Ruth, as prepared for a last long night as possible. They wait in silence and when the dreaded moment finally arrives, a tiny smile graces Liz' lips. Ben kisses her closed eyelids in the same way he did five years ago, when she had wept herself to sleep after receiving the call every soldier's wife fears.

**III. **Ben likes his younger siblings, he really does. And according to his mother and grandmother he is the most adorable and affectionate older brother anyone could have. He plays with the twins whenever they ask him to, helps with homework and stands up for them. There is more to being an older sibling, though, and that is not making it too easy for the younger ones. So when Cole reaches the age when your family gets embarrassing, Ben waits with his obligatory kiss goodbye on the forehead until they are in plain view of Cole's friends just to annoy him.

**II. **Ben carefully sets down the tiny china cup on the equally tiny saucer with his pinky dutifully raised. "Thank you very much for the tea, miss Daniels," he intones, "I shall now take my leave." With an approving nod, Emma offers her hand. "You are very welcome, sir, I bid you a good day," she says. Her older brother kisses the back of her hand with a graceful bow, glad to finally escape the pink-princesses-fluffy-plushies-and-invisible-cookies tea-party Cole got him into because he refuses to play with his twin. And Ben just can't resist the puppy dog eyes.

**I. **Liz Daniels smiles down at her three-year-old son who is staring at her round belly in unconcealed awe. His dark eyes are wide and shine brightly with innocent wonder at the idea of his younger siblings being inside of his mother. Suddenly his features turn into an adorable scowl. "You didn't eat them, mommy, right?" He asks, causing his mother to chuckle and place a quick peck on the tip of his nose. "No, I didn't, Benny. Don't worry," she reassures him and guides his small hands to where one of the twins is moving inside of her.

**A/N:** Twenty kisses, twenty reviews? XD Just kidding. I'm not usually one to ask for reviews, but seriously, I'd love for you to write one – tell me which drabble you liked best, or which one you absolutely hated, or how you liked the idea in general, or write one yourselves, anything. Happy Kissing Day to you all! ;)


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